What Almost Was
by rcfj2290
Summary: Marco and Dylan are officially over Ellie decides to take him out for a day on the town when they run into someone completely unexpected at the Dot.
1. Unexpected Surprises

"Thanks Elle I really needed this,"

Marco said as he held the door open to let Ellie into The Dot.

"Well it's the least I could do after all the crap you've had to put up with from Dylan. I just wanted to see you happy again," She said with a smile.

They walked up to the counter to order their drinks then sat down at a table in the back.

"So how are you holding up?" She asked gently.

"I'm okay," he looked away from her, "I'm just shocked that Dylan could do this to me again. I can't believe that after all the drama we went through last year he could just play with my feelings like that. I guess it's for the best though, maybe now I can try to focus on something else other than him for awhile."

As Marco spoke those words Tim walked into The Dot. Ellie noticed him first.

"I think that something else just walked through the door." She watched Tim walk over to the counter to order something. Marco turned around to look. He looked back at her, surprised. "Tim? No way. After the way I treated him last year there's no way he'll ever want to-"

Marco was interrupted by the sound of Tim's voice.

"Hi Marco". Tim said.

"Hi" Marco said nervously.

Tim looked at Ellie. "Hi. You're Ellie, right?"

"Yes. It's nice to see you again." She said. A long pause ensued with Tim and Marco blankly staring at each other.

"Well look at the time, I have to go study for my Lit test. See you guys later!" She said as she grabed her stuff and rushed out the door.

Tim was still standing over Marco. "Have a seat," Marco said tentatively.

"So how have you been?" Tim asked.

"Good, University has been a really big change from the drama-filled halls of Degrassi. You?"

"I've been okay trying to get through my last year. I applied to Toronto U. I haven't gotten word back yet though."

"You'd love it there; it's got plenty to offer."

They sat there for over an hour talking, laughing and reminiscing. Finally, Tim asked brought up Marco's relationship.

"So how are you and Dylan doing these days?" Tim asked.

"Not so good. He decided to go to Europe and when he did we started talking less and less and that's when I figured out that it was over."

"That's too bad" Tim said.

There was a pause for a moment then Marco spoke.

"Tim, I've had a really good time catching up with you today. I was wondering if-"

Marco was cut off by the sound of another guy's voice.

"Tim!"

Marco looked around to see who was calling Tim's name. A gorgeous blonde was heading towards them.

"Hey!" Tim greeted the blonde with a dazzling smile.

When the blonde got to the table, Tim stood up and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"Marco, I would like you to meet my boyfriend Justin. Justin, this is my friend Marco."

"Hey," Justin said, sitting down next to Tim.

Marco looked at the two of them in shock.

"Hi," Marco said weakly.


	2. Getting Over the Shock

**Authors Note: I know that this chapter is really short but ****its**** just a fill in chapter to show Marco's closure to the situation at The Dot.**** Chapter 3 will be much longer.**

As night fell Marco was walking home from his very confusing encounter with Tim and his boyfriend while thinking intensely about the situation.

"I can't believe it." He thought.

"I can't believe Tim has a boyfriend. Well I guess it's just my luck. I deserve it after what I did to him last year."

He got to the front door and paused for a moment, took a deep breath, sighed then opened the door and walked in. When he got inside he could see Paige at the table shuffling through fashion drawings and Ellie sitting on the couch studying her literature book.

"Oh my gosh Hon!" Paige said with excitement as she looked over at Marco.

"Ellie filled me in on what happened. You've got to tell us everything."

Marco looked at her sighed again and said. "There's nothing to tell. Tim has a boyfriend."

The big smile on Paige's face faded.

"Oh, Hon I'm so sorry." She said sounding disappointed.

"It's okay. I'll live" He said with even more disappointment.

"But the good news is we exchanged numbers so we can keep in contact." He said as his voice perked up.

A short pause followed then Marco spoke again.

"Well I'm going to go to bed I have an early class tomorrow and I'm exhausted."

Marco made his way upstairs, went into his room, changed clothes and laid down on his bed. While laying in bed he, once again, began to think about what happened at The Dot. He replayed the situation in his head a few more times before finally drifting off to sleep.


	3. The Power of Alcohol

**Chapter 3**

A few weeks had passed without incident. Marco began to feel like his life was getting very repetitive. He began to notice that his life was becoming more of a routine rather than something significant. 

He had been in class all day as was on his way home for what would probably be a very uneventful weekend. He walked into the house to see Ellie and Jessie standing in the hallway dressed for an evening out waiting on Paige and Alex. As he closed the door behind him then looked at the top of the staircase to see Paige and Alex coming down dressed in Dance clothes. Paige was the first one to notice he had walked in. 

"Hey Marco." She said as everyone turned to face him. 

"Hey Guys." He said trying to cover up his lack of enthusiasm to see the two couples together. 

"Hey we're all going out clubbing tonight, you should come." Ellie said with encouragement.

He pretended to think for a moment trying to make up an excuse for not going.

"Well….. I would but I'm wiped from class plus I don't want to be the fifth wheel on your double date." He replied.

"Well, okay suit yourself but if you decide to change your mind call me on my cell." 

Everyone exchanges goodbyes with Marco and leaves the house. Marco walks up the staircase and into his bedroom. He sits down on the edge of his bed and looks at the alarm clock which read 6:45. He turns the light out in his room then lays down face up on his bed and begins to stare blankly at the moonlit ceiling in what looked like a hypnotic trance. After what seemed like only a few minutes he looks at his alarm clock again which now read 8:30. 

"Where did the time go?" He thought. 

He shut his eyes trying to fall asleep after a few moments he started to doze off but he was awaken by the ring of his cell phone.

He looked at the front screen of his cell phone and flipped it open he had a text message from Tim. 

"Hey Marco. What's up?"

"Not much just bored at home alone." He replied.

"So am I, I had a DVD night planned with Justin but he bailed on me." 

After reading the message Marco's eyes lit up with excitement. He quickly sat up in his bed.

"Well you could come over to my place if you want and we could watch them." He replied excitedly.

He waited anxiously for the reply. His heart began to race with excitement when he felt the buzz of the vibration from the phone. 

"Okay, sounds good I'll be over in a little while" Tim replied.

Marco read the message and smiled. His smile soon faded when he saw his reflection in the mirror across the room.

"Oh my gosh, I'm a mess!" He thought.

He ran into the bathroom and started to get himself ready. He looked in the mirror and studied himself. 

"My hair looks horrible." He thought.

He quickly began to style his hair debating on which one was best.

"Should I lay it down or should I pull it up?" He paused for a moment to think about it.

"Maybe….. I should spike it." He spiked his hair and looked at himself in the mirror and shook his agreeing with himself.

"Yeah that's perfect." He thought once again agreeing with himself.

He ran out of the bathroom and into his bedroom and opened his closet door.

"Now, what to wear?" He said as his eyes scanned across his entire wardrobe. 

"These jeans are perfect." He said as he pulled a pair of stylish light blue jeans out of his closet. 

"What kind of shirt should I wear a button down or t-shirt?" He pulled out a blue t-shirt with a stripped design on it.

"Perfect." He said.

He quickly began to peel his clothes off then put on the outfit he picked out. He ran downstairs and into the living room and sat down to wait for Tim. 

After a few minutes Marco could heard a car pull up in front of the house a few seconds later the doorbell rang. Marco popped up out of his seat and ran to the door. He looks through the window then opened the door.

"Hey Tim!" Marco said with a huge grin, trying really hard not to get lost in Tim's big brown eyes.

"Hey Marco." Tim said.

"Come in. Make yourself comfortable." Marco said letting Tim into the house. 

They walked into the living room and sat down on the couch.

"So what movies do you have for the evening action, suspense, drama?" asked Marco.

"Horror" Tim replied.

"Horror?" Marco repeated nervously knowing that he would easily be terrified of any horror movie.

"Yeah. Two to choose from either _30 Days of Night _or _Stephen King's The Mist._" Tim replied

Marco tensed up at the thought of both of the movies that Tim had suggested.

"Um, I guess…. _The Mist_ will be fine" Marco said struggling to speak.

"Great!" Tim said excitedly as he got up to put the disc into the DVD player.

"You know, to tell you the truth I'm normally terrified of scary movies but at the same time that's what I love about them." He said as he closed the disc tray.

"I feel the exact same way." Marco said trying to sound convincing. 

"That would be the last reason I would like a scary movie, if I liked them in the first place." He thought while trying to think of an excuse to momentarily leave the room.

"Hey um, do you want some popcorn?" Marco said in a desperate attempt at leaving.

"Yeah, sounds great." Tim said with a smile.

Marco turned around and nearly sprinting into the kitchen. He fumbled through the cabinets looking for a box of popcorn. He grabbed the box took out a package of popcorn and put it in the microwave. After two and a half minutes he took the popcorn bag out of the microwave and dumped it into a bowl. He turned around and started back into the living room. 

"I can do this. I can get through one scary movie without getting extremely terrified." He thought.

He got back into the living room and sat back down on the couch. Tim was already watching the screen that was glaring with the opening scene to the movie.

"Here you go." He said sliding the bowl over to Tim.

"Thanks ." Tim said without taking his eyes off the screen.

Marco began to stare at Tim again. His heart began to race as he watched him gaze in amazement at the movie.

"At least I can watch instead of the movie." Marco thought.

After two hours of trying to avoid the scary parts of the movie, Marco was relieved that it was over and happy that they could start a conversation with Tim. 

"So how have you been since we last talked?" Marco asked.

"I've been okay, not much has happened since then just school, work and home that's it. You?" Tim said with questioning eyes.

"About the same, I just wish I could find some way to bust out of this….._routine_ I've been in the past couple of months." said Marco.

"Well sometimes you just have to put yourself out there let loose go clubbing, dancing somewhere where you can go out and meet people." Tim said.

"Your right, its just school has just been wiping me out lately." Marco said.

A short pause followed. Marco looked over Tim's shoulder to notice the different bottles of assorted types of alcohol sitting on the table behind him.

"Hey, do you want a drink?" Marco said motioning over to the table.

"Sure, but not to much, more than a glass and I start to get wild." Tim said jokingly.

"So, what's your poison Vodka, Tequila or…" 

"Vodka." Tim said interrupting Marco in mid sentence.

"Wow you don't waste any time." Marco said laughing in between words.

Tim smiled and said. "I just know what I like." 

Marco grabbed two glasses and the bottle of vodka a walked back over to the couch. He poured two glasses and handed one to Tim.

"Cheers." He said holding up the glass.

"Cheers." Tim repeated as he pulled the glass to his mouth and gulped down the entire glass. 

"Wow!" Marco said surprised. "You really know how to put it away."

"Well, I've had practice." Tim replied as he refilled the glass.

"Hey lets play a drinking game." Marco suggested.

"What did you have in mind?" Tim asked.

"Let see who can do the most shots."

"Okay, but I should let you know I've played this game before and I'm on expert level." Tim said metaphorically. 

Marco and Tim spent the next hour doing shots and laughing at each others bad jokes. The alcohol had now obviously taken an effect on them.

"Looks like this is the last one." Tim said as he poured two more shots emptying the bottle.

They downed the last two shots simultaneously.

"So I guess it's a tie." Marco said with a drunken slur.

"Yeah, we can both hold our liquor pretty well." Tim agreed.

"Hey where's your bathroom?" Tim asked. 

"There's one downstairs but it's a mess. Try the one upstairs first door on the right." 

Tim stood up and walked to the stair case nearly falling over. 

"You're so wasted." Marco said with a drunken laugh. 

Tim got two steps up the stairs then lost his balance and stumbled onto the staircase. 

"Here, let me help you." Marco said still laughing at him.

He walked over to Tim almost tripping over himself and helped Tim up off the staircase floor. They held each other up while climbing the staircase trying not to fall still laughing drunkenly. They slowly made it to the top of the staircase without falling. Marco directed 

Tim to the bathroom and Tim stumbled his way in slowly closing the door behind him. Marco was now trying to make his way to his bedroom. He leaned against the wall as using it as a crutch so that he wouldn't fall. He managed to get his bedroom without falling walked dizzily over to his dresser then toppled over into his bed. By the time he had fallen over into his bed he could hear Tim in the hallway. 

"Marco, where are you?" He said slurring his words.

"I'm in here." Marco replied.

Tim stumbled his way down the hall and into Marco's room. He walked over to Marco's bed losing his balance and falling right on top of Marco.

"Oh ….. I'm sorry" Tim said through a drunken laugh. 

He rolled over onto the space next to Marco on the bed.

"It's okay." Said Marco also while laughing drunkenly.

A long pause followed they each turned to look at each other both pairs of eyes staring into each other ,they were bright with exuberance yet glossed over from being in a drunken state. Marco began to speak.

"You're so cute." He said with a crooked smile.

"You're not so bad yourself." Tim replied while smiling back.

They continued to stare at each other for a moment then began to lean closer and closer until there lips met in a soft but passionate kiss. They pulled away from each other looking into each others eyes again. They leaned in for another kiss this one even more sensual then the last . 

They were soon making out on the bed, there lips pressed together with there mouths open and there tongues massaging one another. Tim rolled back on top of Marco and they started to peel there clothes off. Tim pulled off his shirt while Marco did the same and they continued to make out again. Marco started to undo Tim's belt then sliding it out of the belt loops then unbuttoning his pants. Marco started to kiss Tim up and down his body until he finally went down to pull off Tim's pants. He could see Tim's very stiff long boner through his boxer-briefs. Marco slid off Tim's underwear and then started to pull off his own. He reached over to his night stand and opened it then reached in and pulled out a condom. He went back to kiss Tim then slid on the condom. He positioned himself to take him in. He slid Tim inside of him moaning as he began to go up and down on him starting out slowly but steadily speeding up. Tim began to moan as the intense pleasure that Marco was giving him began to spread throughout his body. Marco was now sliding up and down on Tim at a very fast paste. Tim felt like he was 

ready to explode his were rolling into the back of his head from the intense pleasure. He climaxed letting out an explosive moan from the intensity of it. Marco, exhausted from his "work out" laid down on top of Tim, resting his head on his chest. The bodies began to melt into each other from the heat of the fiery passion between them. 


	4. The Morning After

**Chapter 4**

**Authors Note: To those who have been waiting I am so sorry it took this long to publish a new chapter. I'm also sorry that the chapter is so short. This chapter is just a snapshot of what happened the morning after chapter 3. I promise that chapter 5 will be much longer and much more detailed than chapter 4.**

The next morning Marco awoke alone in his bed with a pounding headache. He rolled over on his side to see Ellie standing over him with a glass of water in one hand and two aspirin in the other.

"Good morning." She said sitting the glass and the medicine down on his nightstand.

Marco looked at her, groaned then pulled his blanket over his head.

"Oh come on. You have to get out of bed sometime today." She said pulling the covers off.

"Not with this splitting headache." He said trying to pull the covers back.

"Then take these." Ellie said as she handed him the aspirin.

Marco took the aspirin and popped them into his mouth then grabbed the glass of water and gulped it down.

Ellie waited for Marco to get done with the water before she began to drill Marco for answers.

"I saw the empty bottle of Vodka down stairs. What happened last night?" She said sounding worried.

Marco sat up in his bed trying to remember the night before. The alcohol had left his memory in a fog and the pounding headache wasn't helping the situation.

"I...I Don't know." He said hesitating. "The last thing I remember is starting this drinking game with Tim and-"

"Wait, Tim was here!?" Ellie interrupted.

"Yeah. He texted me last night saying he planned a movie night with his boyfriend but he bailed on him so, I asked him to come over to watch them here." Marco replied. "Anyway Tim and I were drinking and then the next thing I remember is..." Marco paused. His eyes began to widen as the memories from the night before came flooding back. "Oh my God!" He said in shock.

"What?" Ellie said.

"I slept with Tim last night." Said Marco.

Ellie stared at Marco with a look of shock in her eyes. "Oh...my God." She said hesitantly.

Marco laid back down on his bed, the pressure from the headache was making his head begin to pound again.

"How did it happen?" Ellie asked still in shock.

"I don't know, we were just really drunk and disoriented. " Marco paused for a moment. The consequences of what he had done came back to him in an intense rush of thoughts.

"Oh no, what was I thinking... Tim has a boyfriend!" Said Marco.

A pause soon followed then Ellie broke the silence.

"So what are you going to do?" Ellie said with a look of uncertainty.

Another short pause followed as Marco thought about her question then he spoke again.

"I don't know but right now I just want to focus on getting rid of this huge hangover.


	5. Talk to Him!

**Chapter 5**

**A/N: This is chapter 5 I'm sorry once again that it took me so long to write another chapter, but I plan to start realese them ever 1 to 2 weeks from now on. Also I'm now in desperate need of Beta readers for story content as well as grammar and spelling. Anyway thanks for reading I hope you enjoy it. **

A week has now passed since the vodka incident. Ellie and Marco just got done with midterms and are on their way back home from class. They are exhausted from the study schedule but happy that they have a week long break coming up.

"Finally, it's over I thought that midterms would never end." Said Marco.

"Well at least we have a week of rest before going back to class." Replied Ellie.

"So what are we going to do for our break?" Marco asked.

"Well since our fall break and Degrassi's mid-semester break just happen to fall on the same week. I thought that you, me, Paige, Alex, Jimmy and Ash could all rent one of those big vans and go on that road trip to the New York that we never got to go on during the summer. "

Marco's eyes lit up with excitement at Ellie's idea.

"That's a great idea El." Marco said with enthusiasm.

"I also thought you could bring along a certain _someone_ that you could invite a certain some to come along with us." Ellie said with emphasis on the word someone.

Marco looked at Ellie reluctantly and began to shake his head no.

"No way El, there's no way I'm going to invite Tim with us. Especially not after what happened the last time we saw each other." Marco said in response.

"Why not? He obviously likes you and you obviously feel the same-" Ellie was then interrupted mid sentence by Marco.

" Because for one thing it would be to awkward, two he has a boyfriend and three I'm not completely sure he feels that way about me because for all I know it could have just been the alcohol that fueled the fire for what was ,more than likely, a one night stand. Oh, and did I already mention he has a boyfriend!"

An awkward pause ensued as Ellie looked annoyed by Marco's reply and as she thought of a bold but surprisingly true argument.

"Despite the fact that he has a boyfriend, you wouldn't try to date him even if he didn't" Ellie argued.

"What?" Marco said out of surprise to her statement.

"You heard me. The only reason that you don't want to fight for a relationship is because you're scared of getting hurt." She said as she watched the expression on Marco's face go from surprised to upset.

"Look Marco, I know that Dylan hurt you a lot, but you can't let that stand in the way of a new potential relationship. I know how it feels."

She paused, looked away from him then spoke again.

"I felt the exact same way when Sean dumped me after he moved to Wasega and although that was a long time ago I can still remember the hurt feelings I had and I sensed the same thing from you when you and Dylan broke up."

Another pause followed then she looked back at him again.

"Anyway, my point is that you can't let past relationships mess up your new ones."

By the time Ellie had finished talking her and Marco had reached the house. They walked into the house see Paige looking through fashion drawings on the couch and Alex next to watching TV.

"Hey guys." Paige said greeting Marco and Ellie.

"Hey Paige." Said Marco and Ellie simultaneously.

"Hey we figured out what we want to do for break." Ellie said walking into the living room.

"What did you have in mind?" Paige replied.

"Remember that road trip we tried to go on this summer but didn't work out?"

Paige shook her head.

"Well me and Marco thought it would be a great idea if all of us can go on it as a group with Ash and Jimmy."

"Great idea!" Paige said excitedly.

"I was in the middle of trying to convince Marco to invite-"

"Ellie!" Marco interrupted.

"What?" Ellie replied sounding annoyed.

"What is it?" Asked Paige.

"Ellie wants me to invite Tim with us on the trip." Marco said.

"Well after what happened the last time you two saw each other-"

"I know I know you think that I should talk to him again." Marco said interrupting Paige.

"Exactly!" Paige said in agreement.

Marco looked away from Paige trying to ignore her comment. Alex finally spoke up.

"Look Mr. Please feel sorry for me. I watched you mope around this house for weeks after you and Dylan broke up. Now you have a chance to be happy again, and you're not even going to try to take a shot at it?" Alex said harshly.

"Okay! I'll call him."

"When?" Ellie asked.

"Tomorrow, now will you all please stop bugging me about this?" Marco said as he rushed up the stairs.

The next day Marco nervously began the process of forcing himself to call Tim. He first started by dialing his number pressing the call button then immediately hanging up. After ten minutes he finally got up the nerve to let the phone ring.

"Hello?" Said Tim.

"Um... hi Tim... it's Marco." Marco responded nervously.

"Hey Marco." Tim replied, his voice began to perked up.

"Hey um... I called because I was wondering if you wanted to meet up somewhere and talk?" Marco said, his voice still shaking with nervousness.

"Yeah I've actually had the same idea I just haven't found the time to call and ask but yeah that sounds great." Answered Tim.

"Okay cool so how about we meet up at The Dot around three?" Marco said as a huge grin appeared across his face.

"Okay see ya then." Tim replied.

"See ya." Marco said as he hung up the phone.

"Oh my gosh I've got to get ready." Marco said a rushed into the bathroom.

After spending forty-five minutes running back and forth from the bathroom to his bedroom Marco had finally finished getting ready. He ran downstairs where he ran into Ellie who was hanging up the phone.

"Okay it's all set." Ellie said to Marco.

"What's all set?" Marco asked.

"Our trip plans. This morning I got Jimmy and Ash on board along with Spinner who just had to tag along." Ellie said.

"So what's the plan?"

"Well first we're going to New York to see the sites of the City of course you know Madison Square Garden, The Statue of Liberty, The Empire State building. Oh and guess who just happens to be playing a show there?" Ellie said excitedly.

"Let me guess the guy you've been drooling over for almost two years now a.k.a. Craig Manning." Marco replied.

"Correct about the Craig part but not so much about the rest." Ellie said trying to sound convincing.

"C'mon El you and I both know that your crush on Craig has not gone away." Marco said.

Silence soon followed as Ellie failed to come up with an argument for Marco's very truthful statement.

"Anyway, then we're off to Boston for the rest of the week. There's still room for 'you know who' if you finally get up the nerve to talk to him." Ellie said trying to change the subject.

"As a matter of fact I was about to go meet him at The Dot." Marco Replied.

Ellie's mouth fell open.

"Really?!" Ellie said surprised.

"Yeah I talked to him a little while ago on the phone." Marco answered.

"I'm surprised that your going out to meet him." Said Ellie.

"Me too." Marco said.

A short pause followed.

"Well I'm off to The Dot I'll see later." He said opening the door.

"Bye."Ellie said as Marco left the house.


End file.
